kornpeef

if you get a quote from a lexus dealership especially lexus of escondido. ask to see the SPG (SERVICE PRICING GUIDE) which is what they are supposed to charge you on labor. have seen customers over charged ridiculous hours that did not match SPG TIMES. The mindset is that if they have money to buy luxury cars then they have enough to pay what the market will bear.

Thunderwuf

What's the average hourly rate?

chris07is

iTrader: (10)

Its called stealership.

AeroZ

iTrader: (1)

do the work yourself if possible and stop going to the stealership

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

usually the hourly price is posted no? they all differ but yes the dealership is typically your most expensive option.

steveo55

Its worth paying the extra bit. One the guys that are working on our cars only work on lexus so they know the cars well im sure they are trained by lexus. Two you get to borrow a car while yours is being worked on. Plus if something happens you know a big dealership is not going to dissapear over night. Ive had my car worked on at escondido I bought my IS and RX there everyone was super chill there.

kornpeef

there is an established time sheet. known as a Service Pricing Guide that state how much time is to be charged to the customer for labor. for example a brake job is 2 hours and alignment is 2 hours. so the customer pays 2 hours of labor for that job. Im just stating that I have seen customers being charged more than what they are supposed to be charged by their own pricing guide. just to cover your own butt and wallet. ask to see the spg time when getting a quote. another thing customers dont know is that by LAW you are entitled to reclaim any and all parts that are being replaced. So if they said they replaced your air filter, brakes, belts. etc instead of having them throw it away you can have it returned. there are cases with core returns like batterys were if you do not return the core like a battery you will be charged a fee.

smariasg63

Good info, thank you!

Turkish

Hit it right on the money. I used to have the dealership is the stealership mentality until I took my moms Lexus for service and just so happened to have a good long casual chat with the Service Director and he offered me a job...so now I am an advisor lol.

As someone mentioned, SPG is basically a dealerships way of saying certain procedures should take X amount of time to complete...per that vehicle. IE. Brake pads and rotor resurfacing calls for 2.0 hours of labor. You should be getting charged (Dealer Labor Rate) X (SPG Hours) to give you a rough estimate on price. Thats not including price which obviously are added.

A lot of people have a bad taste towards dealerships because of bad media and of course...that dishonest advisor that screws someone over and stuff goes viral and all advisors are now bad....

So as I was saying. When you consider that (at least at our dealership) parts and labor for a repair are covered for 1 year/unlimited miles (not including wear items like brake pads/rotors) you have that peace of mind your repair is covered. A lot of independents will only cover parts.

Next, you look at the fact that for most repairs you get a complimentary loaner car...that is just something that never happens at an independent which is why they don't have the labor rates they do...also to include above example.

Another benefit is parts. I know our dealership is really good about having parts in stock so you aren't left waiting for additional hours or even days because the independent you took your vehicle to doesn't have the parts on hand...or worse yet get the wrong part. That is just time and convenience there.

This kinda ties in with above but you also have to take into consideration techs. These guys know exactly what to look for. They know exactly what to repair and how to do so and have all the resources available. If you take your car (especialy under warranty) to a independent he may not know that a particular model is having an excessive amount of shock failures prematurely and to look for that during the Multi Point Inspection. He may not have access to TIS (Toyota/Lexus Service Manuals) to know how to perform every single procedure. He doesn't have access to factory scan tools to pull factory codes (not just generic ones) or specialty tools to properly calibrate the dozens of modules in the car...etc.

Haha and almost forgot...they usually don't offer complementary coffee, sodas and waters if you are getting a quick service and wan't to wait for your vehicle.

Trust me guys I used to have the same perceptions of Dealership Service as you all do so I understand where you are coming from. I always make it a point to go over the invoice line by line not only to explain what we did for the customer but to also correct any mistakes I may have made on the spot. We aren't all perfect but overcharging or selling service that isn't needed is unacceptable to me. I have to live with myself lol.

Hope this sheds some light on all this guys.

PS- ever have a question about your final invoice...ask your advisor to explain it to you. Thats our job, to advise and help the customer. Don't sign until you are clear on services.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

That is why shopping between prospective shops will yield a general range to choose from. I've had the dealer beat indy shops and the reverse. If one is stuck there aren't many choices though the adviser should be able to explain in detail what is required for the given procedure.

islandbeef

All that overhead and "glitter" will cost you.

If you like the overhead and "glitter", go spend a little more.

It's your money.

BTW, did you visit that fancy restaurant upstairs? You're helping Lexus of Escondido pay to be under that restaurant.

rudyH

I agree. I've never felt overcharged for service at the Lexus dealer but I don't think I've ever had any out of warranty repairs. There is a peace of mind that comes with having the mechanics know the problem areas and have all the correct tools, as well as great access to parts. I just went to an independant shop for the first time in decades on an older SC430 I just bought. They did A good job for sure but my next service will be at Lexus and I will have them check everything again.

LoveThatV8

iTrader: (1)

So my wife got TRD springs off of eBay and was looking to have a shop install it for her. Just for kicks, I called and asked how much for labor to install TRD springs... Guess what they've said at Northridge Toyota (please call the service advisors to verify yourself)... An estimate of $1,100.00 to install it !!!! Holy fawk !!! I got my guy at 2K racing in Reseda to install it for me for $160 last week.

So rarely I ever get my car serviced at the dealership, the only time would just be the timing belt for my gs430. Otherwise other maintenance and such like oil changes and brake pads would be at pepboys.

DJPsystems

Don't ever take your car to Pep Boys!!!

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/pep_boys.htm